The Kitten and the Beast
by theUndertakerx
Summary: Every day when he wakes up and comes home from work, there has always been a kitten sitting in front of his door waiting for him. On the third day, Shizuo realizes this isn't a coincidence. SzMk M for later chapters.
1. The Kitten

It was the third day that it had happened.

Once again, when leaving for work, there was a kitten on his doorstep, and without failure, it was always there when he got back, no matter how long his day had been.

Shizuo Heiwajima was starting to think that something strange was going on, especially when the kitten started to look more and more unhealthy, thinning out, it's meows weakening and the shine in his bright blue eyes dulling with hunger. No matter what though, it always managed to show up at his doorstep, every day, and the first and second time it had happened, Shizuo had decided to ignore it. This time, however, the ex-bartender knew that it was not just a coincidence.

The blond didn't remember ever caring for something or someone, the closest thing to this in his past had been taking care of his little brother, but Kasuka could always get things that he wanted if he tried his best, knew how to speak and use the toilet and get his own food if Shizuo wasn't around for a few minutes, maybe an hour. A cat though, let alone one so young looking, that would be hard to take care of, especially because of the man's brutish behavior.

That was why, on the afternoon of the third day, while Shizuo was going home from work and he suddenly remembered the presence of the kitten in front of his door, the frightening man took a couple different turns and ended up at the convenient store, getting the kitten a couple of cans of tuna so that it wouldn't look so unhealthy all the time. Avoiding the stares that he had attracted walking in and out of the store, Shizuo went on his way, thinking mostly about the kitten that would be waiting for him when he got home.

_Sometimes, _He thought. _It feels good to be depended upon._

Without a doubt, the kitten was there when Shizuo got back, looking as unhealthy and frail as ever, his, now pale, blue eyes looking up at the uniform-clad man to help him. Shizuo went about his daily routine of unlocking and opening his door, and the cat's head fell back down, as if he had known that it was a lost cause all this time and that Shizuo would never help a stray like him.

"Well?" Shizuo asked, though he reprimanded himself a moment later for sounding so stupid, asking a cat a question. "You coming in?" He asked it anyways, thinking that people already thought he was a freak, why not add talking to kittens to the list of his flaws?

When the kitten didn't even bother to move in response, Shizuo began to worry. The cat was weak enough, he could have kicked the bucket right then and there, but the blond wouldn't give up that easily. He knelt down to the kitten, still in his open doorway, and nudged it with his hand, smiling in relief when it gave a weak, irritated meow.

The blond reached out, picking the kitten up gently and taking him into the room, closing the door behind him. Shizuo carried the kitten to the kitchen, placing it gently on the counter while he opened a can of tuna for it. "I know you probably don't eat this stuff..." He muttered, draining the can into the sink and pulling a small dish from the cupboard. "But it's what I could find..." The man tipped the contents of the can out onto the dish and put it in front of the kitten, before turning to get a bowl and fill it with water.

When he turned around, Shizuo smiled at the sight in front of him. The kitten was eagerly biting at the tuna, looking like he didn't care at all that it wasn't some special cat food. The kitten only looked up when Shizuo put the bowl of water next to the dish, quietly meowing his thanks and switching from chomping at the fish to take a few laps at the water.

Shizuo couldn't help himself, he reached out and, though the kitten quivered, stroked down the soft black fur of it's back. "I'm not all bad..." Shizuo muttered, frowning just a little bit. "I promise I wouldn't hurt you..." He continued to stroke down the kitten's fur slowly, smiling softly every now and then when he could feel the kitten purr against his hand or nuzzle up to it.

Soon, the tuna was gone the kitten finished lapping up at the dish of water he was given, then looked up at Shizuo with eyes only a little bit less dull than they were before. The kitten mewled up at the ex-bartender, standing a bit shakily and padding closer to him across the counter.

Shizuo gently lifted the kitten off of the counter, taking him to the front room and setting him on the couch. "It's been a long day for both of us, cat, so why don't you rest here and I'm going to go take a shower..." The cat curled up in the corner of the sofa, wrapping it's tail around it's body and laying it's head in it's paws. "There you go, cat, you just stay right there..." Shizuo pat it's head gently once before turning again and heading toward the bathroom.


	2. The Boy

**This has been turning out a lot longer than I originally thought it would be. Thanks for the reviews guys, I promise it won't stay this long forever. This was just a sudden idea, I hadn't intended for it to drag on for so long, sorry it's still rated weird. It'll get better, I promise, it's almost done! Thank you for reading, though! 3**

Once out of his shower, Shizuo dried himself off and dressed in his room, throwing on nothing more than a red t-shirt and casual pants, betting on not going out again that day. He was about to drop down onto his bed when he remembered the guest that was taking up residence in his living room. The blond sighed, knowing that he would have to go out at some point and get real cat supplies, he bet that the kitten wasn't going anywhere soon, even if he could. The thing still looked incredibly unhealthy, and it seemed that it was up to Shizuo to take care of it until it was.

Shizuo passed through the kitchen, grabbing a glass and the milk from his fridge, pouring himself some and drinking it down quickly, putting everything away before he went out into the living room. "Hey, cat," Shizuo called out, looking down at his hands as he shoved them into his pockets. When he looked up again at the kitten, he was shocked stupid to find not his small furry friend, but a boy, exactly where he had left the kitten, curled up with his tail wrapped around his body and head in his ha-

Tail.

Shizuo's eyes followed the length of the thin black tail that wrapped around the front of the teenager, up his back, and to his short black hair, patted neatly down except for the areas just around where two black furry ears pokes out of his head. "Oh you've got to be kidding me..." Shizuo murmured, shaking his head. This was all too similar to one of those books that Kadota's weird friends went on about. "What the hell am I going to do with this...?" Still though he kept his voice down, realizing that the kid was just as scrawny as he was when he was a kitten and probably still needed his rest.

With very few options as to what he was able to do about the situation, Shizuo called Shinra.

"A cat?" Shinra asked over the phone, and Shizuo could almost picture the tilt of his head, his furrowed brow and the little frown he would adorn in confusion. "But Shizuo, you of all people know that I'm not a veterinarian."

"It's not just a cat, though." Shizuo explained before the underground doctor could continue on with some ramble that Shizuo could barely stand to listen to. "I put him down to a nap when he _was _a cat, and now I'm looking at a high school kid with a tail and cat ears." He hissed into the phone, trying to keep his voice as level as he possibly could, not wanting to disturb the kid from his sleep. "He looks terrible, Shinra, I just need you to come look at him."

There was a pregnant pause on the other line, and when Shinra responded Shizuo could hear the fondness he had for strange things in his voice. "Well alright then, why don't you just bring him over?"

"He's naked."

Another pause, this time far more awkward than the last, before Shinra spoke once more. "Well just put some clothes on him and bring him over, Celty's got me on lock-down so I can't go anywhere." The doctor whined, earning a sigh from Shizuo.

"Alright, I'll find something... See you later, Shinra." Shizuo closed his phone before he had to listen to one of Shinra's whiny goodbyes, heading back to his bedroom to search through his closet and find something of his that was small enough so it wouldn't drown the boy too much.

Settling on a pair of old shorts and a t-shirt that he knew was going to be way too big for the kid, Shizuo pulled them out and went back to the living room, kneeling down in front of the couch and resting a hand on the kid's shoulder. "Hey, kid," He said, his voice at a normal level, which (for anyone else) would have been a bit loud. "Wake up, I'm taking you somewhere..."

The kid's eyes fluttered open and he startled, ears perking up and tail straightening out in front of him, pressing back against the couch, mouth hanging open slightly. At the sight of the familiar blond, he relaxed and smiled. "Shizuo..." He muttered fondly, though once he realized what he had said his eyes grew wide and he clamped a hand over his mouth. "I'm-" He stuttered, almost as though he was unaware that he was a human, at first. "I'm me!" He grinned, excited that he had just figured this out.

"Yes you are," Shizuo agreed, smiling softly and lowering his voice a little bit so it would beat a volume that didn't startle the kid. "And you've gotta get dressed, so wrap your tail around yourself, okay?"

The boy looked up at him, puzzled, before realizing what he meant. He nodded, sitting up with his hands between his legs to cover himself up, and moved his tail to curl around his torso. He smiled up at Shizuo, when he realized that the older man was staring at him, amazed.

The blond blushed just a tad, feeling his cheeks heat up lightly at being caught staring at the boy. "Here." He said, gruffly, holding out the clothes to the kid. "I know they won't fit you, but they're the closest I could find to something small enough to at least have a hold on you while we walk."

Nodding, the boy took the clothes that Shizuo offered out to him, blushing slightly when the blond didn't move away.

Almost as if he was caught doing something he shouldn't, Shizuo started, blushing deeply, and rubbed the back of his head. "S-Sorry..." He muttered, standing awkwardly and looking away. "Just... tell me when you're finished dressing..." Without another word, Shizuo made his way to the kitchen again, not looking back at the boy as he walked away.

A moment later, the boy appeared at Shizuo's side, drowning in the clothes that he was wearing, but at least they stayed on. The t-shirt was slipping off of his scrawny shoulders and the shorts came down past his knees, but after looking at him for a moment or two, Shizuo determined that this kid was actually kinda cute, and that he might as well stick around so Shizuo could make sure that he was getting healthier and eating right.

"How far are we going?" The boy asked, raising a thin black eyebrow up at his current caretaker.

"Just to a friend's house, why?" The man responded, slipping his apartment key into his pocket and heading toward the door. He glanced over his shoulder at the boy and raised an eyebrow. "Why? You coming?"

The boy frowned and looked down at his feet. "I don't have any shoes." He stated, shrugging, as though this was something simple that they had both overlooked, and had resulted in a huge problem.

The ex-bartender frowned, nodding, and looking down at the boy's bare feet as well. "You're right..." He sighed again, rubbing the back of his neck once more. "I don't suppose mine will work for you, either..." There were just some things that you couldn't do, and Shizuo's feet were far bigger than the kid's. Wearing big clothes was one thing, but wearing shoes that were too big for you just can't happen. "Alright then, hop on," Shizuo knelt down and gestured for the kid to hop onto his back. "Don't want you cutting your feet up or anything..." He shrugged, waiting for the kid to climb up onto him.

Blue eyes stared for a moment longer, and without hesitating, almost as though he was thrilled that this was happening, had wanted it to all along, the kid climbed on top of Shizuo's back and wrapped his arms and legs around him, reflexively nuzzling into the space between the much larger man's shoulders.

Shizuo ignored this gesture, standing easily since the boy didn't weigh much and he was strong enough to lift him, he had figured that since the kid had instincts of a cat, he might as well just nuzzle into every surface that he finds if it pleases him. "Alright, let's go..." Shizuo sighed and started out the door, slipping his sunglasses on and a pack of cigarettes into his pocket from the end table just inside the door.

Most of the walk both remained silent, Shizuo steadily ignoring the looks they were getting from people around the city and the boy keeping his face pressed between Shizuo's shoulder blades. Once or twice they passed by people Shizuo knew but it was only Simon that recognized both travelers.

"Shizuo!" He called in his thick accent. "And Kida's friend! Come, you are both welcome, come eat sushi, it's good!"

The blond shook his head, even though he could feel the kid's perk up, ears twitching against Shizuo's neck. "Sorry, Simon," Shizuo said, hitching the kid up so he was more comfortably carried. "Gotta go run an errand, I'll stop by later." He added the second thought when he felt the kid's ears press down sadly against his neck. The kid must still be hungry, no wonder, he probably hadn't eaten anything besides that can of tuna in a few days. He might've had a couple other things around town, scavenging like an alley cat, but that couldn't be much.

Simon shouted out a goodbye to them before Shizuo trudged on, heading toward Shinra's house.

"Shizuo?" The kid asked quietly, putting his chin on the older man's shoulder. "Where are we going?" He asked again, sounding sleepy. Shizuo guessed he must have fallen asleep for a little while on his back.

The blond thought about this for a moment, wondering if the kid would freak if he heard that they were going to a doctor. "I have a friend who might be able to figure out why you do this changing thing..."

Nodding, the kid rested his forehead back against Shizuo's shoulder. "Thank you..." He muttered after a moment, quietly, almost sure that Shizuo wouldn't have been able to hear what he had said. With his luck, however, the ex-bartender turned his head toward him questioningly.

"What was that?" Shizuo asked, and the kid could see a frown tugging at the corner of his mouth, though it wasn't very deep. He had learned by now, after watching Shizuo leave and come back to and from work every day for three days now, that there was a sort of permanent frown on the blond's face, but now it... bothered him.

"Oh... just... thank you..." The raven haired boy smiled at his companion. "For taking care of me, I mean..."

The familiar small smile that Shizuo had revealed a couple of times that day finally showed itself, and a small hint of a blush tinted across his cheeks. "You don't need to thank me..." He muttered, though only one thing was running through his mind. _It really does feel good to have someone to depend on you..._


End file.
